The benefits of regular exercise have become well recognized in recent years. A relatively simple activity such as jumping rope has recognized health benefits: as a cardiovascular exercise, for weight control and to improve coordination. The prior art includes a variety of attempts to enhance these and other benefits gained by jumping rope by modifying the apparatus, a jump rope.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,932 discloses a jump rope having variable weight handles. The weight of the handles is varied by introducing a predetermined amount of water into a one piece handle having a hollow chamber. U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,119 discloses a jump rope in which the handles are attached to the rope with a bushing which allows relative rotation between the handle and the rope and means to permit adjustment of the rope length.
A variety of patents have disclosed means for adding weight to the rope itself. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,382 which discloses a jump rope in which weights are oriented on the rope and the handle is provided with a bearing inside the handle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,474 discloses a jump rope formed from a hollow flexible tube which may be filled with a weighting material. Canadian Pat. No. 1,164,490 discloses a jump rope which is weighted by orienting tubular shaped weights loosely over the rope. U.S. Pat. No. 4,618,142 discloses a jump rope apparatus in which a jump rope is mounted to a rigid bar by means of standoff rods. The rigid bar includes means to selectively attached weight thereto.
A typical jump rope of the prior art is susceptible to premature wear at the junction between the rope and the handle. Also, prior art weighted jump ropes typically reacted in a manner different than an unweighted rope during use. This required adjustment in the users style and routine which made the prior art weighted jump ropes undesirable.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a jump rope with easily varied weights in the handle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide variable weight jump rope handles which are substantially conventional in size and shape.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a jump rope with variable weight handles which include means to control wear at the rope/handle junction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide variable weight jump rope handles which may be easily separated from the rope and used as hand held variable weight exercise apparatus for other exercises.